The Gravity of Ohio

Since November 28 I have passed through Cleveland five times. Prior to this day I had been through just once. What is this new gravity? Why am I sucked into Ohio?

The first two times through I was driving to and from Boston. Ohio turned out to be a surprisingly large state, and Cleveland was the landmark taunting you...saying that you have traveled forever through Ohio, and you're still an eternity from Boston or Grand Rapids. This part of the trip was fun, though. I was in a van of about 8 other people I didn't know, and we were all just hanging out getting to know each other. Good fun. Turned out to be an amazing trip. I slept through Cleveland on the return trip, so I can't comment on that part....but it was around 10 am after driving all night--no fun.

Passes three and four were on my trip to Mt. Marcy. Great trip. The drive out there was a little awkward, seeing as I had never taken a road trip with two guys in their mid-forties. The first time through Cleveland I generally took an introverted posture. The return trip I was much more talkative.

Today was a whole new experience. I got called up to do a Long Distance Transfer (LDT) to pick somebody up from the Cleveland Clinic (i.e. a HUGE hospital in Cleveland) and bring her back to GR. I was paired up with a medic that I have talked to a bit, but didn't know incredibly well. It was real cool to get to know him throughout the trip. He does great medicine. We picked up a woman who had some pretty significant neurological problems. She had a bunch of scars on the left side of her head towards the front and she couldn't talk at all (aphasia). I bet she had some injury in what's called Broca's Area (speech production), but she seemed to be able to understand everything going on around her. I can't imagine that -- being completely aware that you are a seeming lump of a person, and not being able to do anything about it. With work she will probably be able to regain some communication skills, but she will never be able to return to her former level (she was a state trooper). Luckily she had a great husband that was trailing around with her. I doubt I'll ever find out what happens with her, though, and I think that's my biggest problem with healthcare.

Who knows when I'll get sucked into Cleveland again. Something tells me it will be real soon.